I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to hunting decoys and, more particularly, to a drive system for providing animation to such decoys.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Hunters frequently employ decoys when hunting game animals. For example, when hunting water fowl, a hunter will commonly set out a plurality of decoys in a pattern typical of that assumed by live birds so that the setting will appear natural to the species being hunted when viewed from a distance. The decoys are designed to resemble the water fowl species being hunted and, generally speaking, most decoys either sit stationary on land (as in the case of geese) or are anchored so as to float as a group on water as with ducks. For the most part, such decoys do not have movable parts.
The prior art does include decoys which are not totally immovable. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,466 to Davis illustrates a goose decoy containing a radio controlled motor for causing the decoy's wing appendages to flap and for the decoy to move from a sitting position to a standing position. The Hazlett U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,873 patent describes a duck decoy incorporating an electric motor coupled to wing appendages for producing a flapping motion thereof. Various other patents have been granted in the past that incorporate either an electric motor or a string mechanism manipulated by the hunter to produce animation, such as wing and/or head movement.
When it is considered that electric motor drive systems for use in decoys generally deploy DC motors powered by batteries and that it is desirable that such batteries will provide sufficient current to power the appendages for prolonged periods of time, e.g. 12 hours at a stretch, it is imperative that the drive system be highly efficient and minimize torque demand on the motor. The present invention provides such a drive system.